Israel Adesanya’s fatherly advice to Alex Pereira’s son after UFC 287 leads to meme storm on Twitter

Israel Adesanya had one of the greatest performances in middleweight history at UFC 287, when he knocked out his combat sports rival Alex Pereira in the second round.

Following the victory, 'The Last Stylebender' mocked 'Poatan' by doing an impression of Pereira falling flat while being knocked out. When the pair met in 2017 for their kickboxing rematch, Pereira knocked Adesanya out cold with a left hook. Following the bout, the Brazilian's son mocked the Kiwi fighter by doing an impression of him falling flat after being KO'd.

Six years later, Adesanya had the ultimate comeback with the following tweet directed at Pereira's son:

"Always respect your elders."

Adesanya reposted a video of 'Poatan' and his sons recalling the 2017 kickboxing bout in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Israel Adesanya's tweet led to a Twitter meme-storm, with mixed reactions.

A user with the handle 'Vstylez' posted the following:

"The kid knew exactly what he was doing. Maybe if his father would [have] checked him in that moment when Izzy was on the other end, then Saturday's moment would not [have happened]. That was 2017 [and] it’s now 2023 - he learned something on Saturday."

Another user with the handle 'kelvinekerete' posted a sarcastic comment directed at Adesanya, pointing out the champ's 'pettiness' given that he'd held on to that moment for six years.

Here are other reactions to Adesanya's post:

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Israel Adesanya's masterful performance against Alex Pereira at UFC 287

UFC 287 was a lot of things - largely great. From the striking slugfest between Adrian Yanez and Rob Font, resulting in a first-round KO for the latter, to Kevin Holland's memorable victory over Santiago Ponzinibbio - the event delivered on most fronts.

The main event saw the MMA rematch between champion Adesanya and his archrival Alex Pereira. What made this fight great was Adesanya's redemption arc through four combat sports bouts, which had seen 'The Last Stylebender' lose the first three.

In the MMA rematch, Adesanya pushed forward and put 'Poatan' on the backfoot. While the first round was extremely competitive, it seemed like Israel Adesanya was baiting Alex Pereira into a false sense of security in the second.

In round two, 'Poatan' found himself throwing a barrage of strikes and pushing for a finishing sequence.

However, Israel Adesanya threw a one-two combination, followed by a right hook on Alex Pereira's blindside and a short left uppercut that grazed 'Poatan' - a combination that floored the Brazilian fighter. Adesanyawasted no time in delivering a hammerfist before Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight.

What followed was Adesanya shooting imaginary arrows at the fallen 'Poatan', followed by the infamous 'falling flat via KO' gesture to mock the Brazilian fighter.